Courtyard Hounds

Court Yard Hounds is an American country music and folk duo founded by sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison. They, along with Natalie Maines, make up the Dixie Chicks, which went on hiatus in 2008. The sisters decided to record a side project under a different name. Court Yard Hounds, featuring Robison for the first time as lead vocalist released a debut album for Columbia Records, the same label for which the Dixie Chicks has recorded, on May 4, 2010. The album debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 chart, initially selling 61,000 copies. It has sold approximately 250,000 copies in the United States.

Court Yard Hounds was formed in 2009 when Maguire and Robison wanted to return to the studio, to begin the Dixie Chicks' eighth album; because Natalie Maines felt she was not yet ready to return to another musical project, the sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire formed a side project to continue with their careers, and called it Court Yard Hounds.

The duo's project was announced in January 2010 and the album features Emily Robison on lead vocals. Robison has said that the album is "very personal" and that she will be joined by Jakob Dylan on a track called "See You in the Spring". They are signed to Columbia Records and released their self-titled debut album on May 4, 2010. Their first public appearance as Court Yard Hounds was on March 18, 2010 at the Americana Music Association's SXSW showcase in Austin, Texas. excerpts from Wiki.